A.  >  ' 


Univ. of  IH.  Library 
53 


THE  OLD  GUARD 


A  Response  to  the  Sentiment,  "The  Old  Guard."  at  the 
Banquet  of  the  Illinois  State  Bar  Association. 
Chicago,  III.,  July  13,  1906. 

By  ALFRED  ORENDORFF 

Springfield,  111-. 


THE  OLD  GUARD 


A  Response  to  the  Sentiment,  "The  Old  Guard,"  at  the 
Banquet  op  the  Illinois  State  Bar  Association, 
Chicago,  III.,  July  13,  1906. 

By  ALFRED  ORENDORFF 

Springfield,  Illinois 


II.  OF  ILL.  Lib. 


THE  OLD  GUARD 


ALFRED  OBENDORFF,  of  Springfield. 


4 


Mr.  Orendorff  :  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 
A  prudent  lawyer,  when  he  meets  with  a  term  or  phrase  in  the 
preparation  of  a  ease,  that  seems  ambiguous,  ought  to  receive, 
if  possible,  an  authoritative  construction  or  definition  of  the 
word.  And  so,  before  I  consented  to  fill  this  honorable  position 
I  investigated  what  the  term  "old"  meant  in  connection  with 
"guard."  And  I  know,  to  my  entire  satisfaction  that  it  is 
not  a  measure  of  age,  duration  of  time,  or  length  of  service, 
but  that  it  is  a  term  of  endearment.  How  could  it  be  else  than 
that  when  we  consider  that  the  guardians  that  have  been  most 
efficient  in  this  Association  are  represented  here  tonight,  by  the 
wives  and  daughters  and  friends  of  the  Association,  our  sister 
State  of  Missouri  contributing  a  charming  quota,  and  as  we 
recognize  these  as  the  Guardian  Angels  of  our  institution,  how 
could  we  connect  the  term  age  with  them?  As  has  been  sug- 
gested by  Col.  Hagerman  in  his  able  annual  address,  this  As- 
sociation  has  had  many  years  of  experience;  and  in  my  con- 
sideration  of  this  sentiment  I  shall  hold  that  every  man  and 
woman  who  has  in  any  way  contributed  to  the  success  of  the 
Illinois  State  Bar  Association  is  one- of  the  "Dear  Old  Guard." 

And  first  we  may  consider  that  this  is  the  Illinois  State 
Bar  Association,  a  State  of  which  it  has  been  said : 

"Not  without  thy  wondrous  story,  Illinois,  Illinois, 
May  be  writ  the  nation's  glory,  Illinois,  Illinois; 
On  the  record  of  thy  years  Abraham  Lincoln's  name  appears, 
CT"  Grant  and  Logan,  and  our  tears,  Illinois,  Illinois." 


U.OF  ILL  Lib. 


4 


III  referring  to  the  illustrious  men  who  have  been  connected, 
direct] y  and  indirectly,  with  this  organization,  the  self-imposed 
time  limitation  which  propriety  suggests  will  not  allow  me  to 
more  than  name  them,  and  perhaps  phrase  a  few  words  that 
may  possibly  throw  some  light  upon  the  character  of  some  of 
those  men.  The  ex-Presidents  of  the  Association  are  as  fol- 
lows :  Anthony  Thornton,  David  McCulloch,  Orville  H.  Brown- 
ing, Elijah  B.  Sherman,  Charles  C.  Bonney,  William  L.  Gross, 
David  Davis,  Benjamin  S.  Edwards,  Melville  W.  Fuller,  E.  B. 
Green,  Thomas  Dent,  Ethelbert  Callahan,  James  B.  Bradwell, 
James  M.  Riggs,  Lyman  Trumbull,  Samuel  P.  Wheeler,  Elliott 
Anthony,  Oliver  A.  Harker,  John  H.  Hamline,  Alfred  Orendorff, 
Harvey  B.  Hurd,  Benson  W^ood,  Jesse  Holdom,  John  S.  Stevens, 
Murray  P.  Tuley,  and  Charles  L.  Capen. 

We  have  had,  you  see,  illustrious  men  in  this  institution. 
Two  Vice-Presidents  of  the  United  States ;  two  men  who  occu- 
pied the  Vice-Presidential  chair,  Stevenson,  an  active  member, 
and  Judge  David  Davis.  Davis  was  actively  connected  with 
the  early  days  of  this  society.  Davis,  whose  fame  may  safely 
rest  upon  that  decision  which  he  gave  as  an  Associate  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Milligan  case,  whereby  the  rights 
of  American  citizens  from  that  time  forth  were  protected  under 
the  habeas  corpus  act  in  the  states  where  rebellion  was  not  in 
actual  existence. 

We  have,  as  an  ex-President  of  this  Association,  the  honored 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  (Applause),  who. sends  his 
greetings  here  tonight  in  a  letter  to  Judge  Holdom,  and  asks 
that  he  may  be  remembered  by  his  associates.  A  great  honor 
to  any  man  to  occupy  that  most  dignified  judicial  position  upon 
earth. 

But  this  Society  had  a  man  within  its  ranks  who  declined 
to  accept  the  position  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  our 
honored  and  lamented  Judge  Schofield. 

Senators  and  Governors  belong  to  our  Association.  This 


5 


meeting  tonight  is  graced  by  the  presence  of  Senator  Cullom, 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  (Ap- 
plause. ) 

An  early  President  of  this  Association  was  one  of  the  great- 
est constitutional  lawyers  that  this  nation  has  produced,  Lyman 
Trumbull,  of  Illinois.  (Applause.)  In  a  debate  between 
Trumbull  and  Douglas,  Douglas  said  of  him  that  his  parents 
must  have  had  a  prophetic  vision  as  to  what  the  son  would  be- 
come when  they  gave  him  the  name  of  Lyman.  And  Judge 
Trumbull  in  his  reply  said  to  Judge  Douglas,  "Your  parents 
must  also  have  had  a  prophetic  knowledge  of  the  future  and 
your  course  when  they  selected  as  a  part  of  your  cognomen  the 
name  of  Arnold,  the  greatest  traitor  that  we  have  had  against 
this  nation. ' '  I  speak  of  this  to  show  the  quick  wit  and  repar- 
tee of  the  two  men,  not  applicable  as  a  matter  of  truth  to  either 
of  them,  for  no  more  sincere  man  than  Lyman  Trumbull  has 
appeared  in  public  affairs,  and  no  truer  patriot  than  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  who  upheld  the  hands  of  his  compatriot,  Lincoln,  in 
the  great  conflict  of  the  sixties  and  in  his  own  home  of  Illinois 
rescued  the  state  from  sectional  strife.  He  said  that  in  that 
great  conflict  there  were  only  two  parties,  traitors  and  patriots, 
and  that  he  wished  his  followers  to  be  patriots  in  deed  and  in 
truth.  (Applause.) 

The  State  Supreme  Court  and  Federal  Judges  of  this  cir- 
cuit and  the  ex-members  are  all  members  of  this  Association, 
honored  members  who  have  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the 
Bar  Association.  I  may  say  some  things  that  may  require  a 
diagram  to  go  with  them,  if  so,  I  will  explain  them  privately  to 
any  one  that  wishes  to  hear  me.  But  I  wish  to  say  the 
Supreme  Court,  I  now  understand,  is  so  constituted  that 
all  its  members  can  eat  at  the  same  table  at  the  Leland 
Hotel.  (Laughter  and  applause.)  And  when  my  friend,  Judge 
Carter,  said  that  he  had  no  brief  for  the  members  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  that  each  one  of  them  could  speak  for  himself,  let 


G 


me  say  that  as  I  understand  it,  the  complaint,  if  there  have 
been  any  complaints,  is  that  each  one  has  been  speaking  for  him- 
self, instead  of  speaking  for  the  Court  after  conference  together. 
(Laughter  and  applause.) 

Among  the  members  of  this  organization  I  think  it  but 
proper  for  me  to  say  that  the  entire — listen  to  me — the  entire 
Democratic  delegation  from  Illinois  in  Congress  is  a  member  of 
this  body.      (Laughter  and  applause.) 

The  members  who  have  been  selected  to  prominent  positions 
and  are  now  termed  the  "Old  Guard,"  have  reflected  in  every 
instance,  I  think,  credit  upon  this  institution.  Two  of  our 
honored  ex-Presidents  are  not  present  on  account  of  sickness, 
Hon.  E.  B.  Sherman  and  Judge  "Wheeler.  We  regret  their  ab- 
sence and  extend  them  our  sympathy.  No  sketch  of  the  Old 
Guard  would  be  satisfactory  that  did  not  name  with  appreciation 
the  two  ex- Secretaries  who  have  done  so  much  to  bring  this 
society  to  its  present  state  of  honor  and  usefulness.  You  know 
I  mean  Judge  Gross  and  Mr.  James  H.  Matheny.  (Applause.) 
And  now,  having  spoken  for  those  who  were  officers  of  this  in- 
stitution before  I  was,  I  think  it  but  fair  that  I  should  tell  a 
personal  incident.  But  before  I  do  that  I  wish  to  call  the  at- 
tention of  this  body  to  the  fact  that  Judge  Treat,  of  the  Spring- 
field Federal  Court,  was  for  many  years  connected  with  this  So- 
ciety, and  reflected  honor  upon  it.  To  illustrate  something  of 
his  character :  One  day  I  was  in  his  court  and  a  Chicago  lawyer 
had  made  a  brilliant  speech  there:  the  judge  said  to  me,  "I 
knew  that  lawyer's  father  in  Indiana,  his  father  was  a  brilliant 
and  honorable  gentleman,  I  think  his  son  has  inherited  his 
father's  brilliancy."  (Laughter.) 

And  it  would  not  be  right,  we  should  not  leave  out  the  fact 
that  Gov.  John  M.  Palmer  was  at  one  time  an  officer  of  this  As- 
sociation and  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  its  proceedings.  He 
uttered  an  epigram  that  is  as  applicable  tonight  as  it  was  when 
he  sounded  it  forth  on  the  prairies  of  his  beloved  central  Illinois. 


Tie  said  that  this  government  should  be  as  strong  as  the  law  and 
no  stronger;  and  weak  as  the  law,  no  weaker.  A  sentiment 
that  could  be  well  applied  to  the  current  events  around  us. 

I  have  often  wondered  how  some  of  these  old  guards  ever  be- 
came President  of  this  Association.  Uncle  Dick  Oglesby  said, 
when  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  that  he  looked  around  at  the 
Senators  and  said  to  himself,  "Oglesby,  you  are  a  lucky  man, 
brought  up  in  poverty,  worked  your  way  along  the  highway  of 
life  until  here  you  are  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate; 
all  these  are  distinguished  men, — I  wonder,  Oglesby,  how  you 
ever  got  here."  He  said  he  hadn't  been  there  ten  days  until 
he  wondered  how  under  heavens  some  of  these  other  fellows  ever 
got  there.  (Laughter.)  So,  after  my  election  as  President  of 
this  Association, — for  I  insist  that  there  shall  be  a  fair  deal  here 
tonight — I  visited  the  office  of  Mr.  Moses,  who  was  an  ardent 
member,  a  useful  member,  an  able  member  of  this  Association. 
"When  I  was  admitted  to  his  presence,  with  considerable  manner 
he  introduced  me  to  the  lady  who  was  his  private  secretary  and 
said,  ' '  This  is  the  Hon.  Alfred  Orendorff,  of  Springfield,  Illinois, 
President  of  the  Illinois  State  Bar  Association. ' '  I  bowed. 
The  lady,  looking  up,  said,  "  Is  it  possible  ? ' '  (Laughter. )  And 
ever  since  my  election  and  service,  as  each  one  has  been  elected, 
I  have  looked  him  in  the  eye  and  said,  ' 1  Is  it  possible ! ' '  (Laugh- 
ter.) 

My  friends,  I  have  talked  longer  than  I  expected  on  behalf 
of  the  members  of  the  Old  Guard,  so  called.  I  would  be  pleased 
to  speak  of  the  distinguished  Thornton,  the  great  chancellor 
Tuley  and  others,  but  while  my  theme  is  inexhaustible,  audi- 
ences are  not  so,  and  therefore  I  must  forbear.  (Laughter.) 
"We  appreciate  the  distinction  of  having  a  table  by  ourselves, 
still  more,  the  distinction  of  having  with  us  these  ladies  who 
have  graced  and  adorned  the  table  of  the  Old  Guard.  (Ap- 
plause.) 


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